Special educational needs

Recent statements in this category are shown below:

Summary: Mr X complains the actions of the Council's Early Help service have had a detrimental impact on his granddaughter's familial relationships. There is no evidence that the support the Council provided to Mr X's granddaughter impacted negatively on her relationships with her family.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council had failed to ensure provision of speech and language therapy required by her son Z's Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council failed to ensure delivery of therapy as required by the plan. It has agreed to apologise, pay Mrs X £3,000 to remedy injustice caused to Z by this fault and ensure he gets the therapy required by his plan. It has agreed to pay Mrs X an additional £250 for her time and trouble. It has agreed to explain how it has learnt from the complaint to improve future commissioning. It has agreed to complete Z's annual review documentation without delay, giving Mrs X any relevant right of appeal.

Summary: Mrs X complained about delay in finding a special school placement for her son and failure to provide suitable education for him in the meantime. The Council was not at fault as it took reasonable steps to arrange the school placement and consider alternative provision.

Summary: The complainant alleges that the Council delayed in providing the Speech and Language provision specified in his son's Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council accepted that it had delayed but not to the extent claimed by the complainant. It also did not consider the delay had resulted in an injustice to his son. The Ombudsman considers that there is fault causing an injustice. The Council has agreed to the Ombudsman's recommended settlement of the complaint.

Summary: There was a two year delay by the Council in completing an annual review for a young person for whom it maintains an EHC Plan. This is unacceptable delay and is fault. This has caused uncertainty and additional time and trouble to the family. The young person may also have missed out on provision to develop their independence. The Council must now complete the review and provide a decision. Recommendations for an apology, financial payment and service improvements are also made.

Summary: Ms X complains of failings by the Council causing her son, Y to lose education. There was fault by the Council, though the latter part of the period when Y was without education is outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to consider. The Council will apologise and pay Ms X £1200 for lost education.

Summary: It was Mrs B's decision to withdraw C from school in April 2017, and to stop her returning to school. However, the Council was at fault for failing to arrange home tuition when it accepted that C could not attend school full-time because of her health needs. It was also at fault for a delay in issuing C's EHC plan. It has agreed to apologise to Mrs B and pay her £900 to recognise C's injustice.

Summary: Mr P complains the Council has not provided the goods and services that his son, Q, requires. Mr P is responsible for providing Q with those services as Q is being electively home educated. There is no evidence of Council fault.

Summary: Mrs F complains the Council delayed issuing an amended Education Health and Care Plan for her son, and delayed responding to her complaint. The Ombudsman has found fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs F.

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing their son P's Education, Health and Care plan, and did not provide him with a suitable alternative education while he was out of school. The Council was at fault. It issued P's Education, Health and Care plan ten months late, and this contributed to P being unable to attend school. The Council then did not provide him with suitable education while he was out of school. P missed a significant amount of education. His parents suffered considerable distress and inconvenience, and went to undue additional time and trouble. The Council has already taken action in response to the faults it identified. However, we have identified extra fault causing significant injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay the family an extra £4,000 and issue a staff reminder.

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